Bill Clinton and the Missing $100 Million

by J. Orlin Grabbe

Note: After posting this article, I received information from one of the participants in the meeting Tatum describes that the actual amount of "missing money" was more in the neighborhood of $10 million, not $100 million. Tatum may have been relying on
faulty memory, because the back of his DOD Internationl Flight Plan for the day concerned simply says: "Meeting with Gen Noriega/SatCom with North & Gov of AK concerning missing money. Dropped off Noriega @ airport in S.D. Met Barry Seal in 13SN (?).
Seal took Gen Noriega & Harari."

D.G. "Chip" Tatum was already familiar with Central
America when he was asked by Oliver North to infiltrate the
3/498th Medical Company of Ft. Steward, Georgia, as a
MEDEVAC pilot. He had already flown extensively in
Central America as a Special Operations pilot.

And it was as a Special Operations pilot operating out
of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, in 1983 and 1984, that Tatum
would routinely deliver white coolers marked "medical
supplies" to Little Rock Airforce base and to the Mena airport
in Arkansas. There he would be met by Dan Lasater and
Raymond "Buddy" Young. The coolers were similar to the
one marked "vaccine" that had broken open at La Mesa
airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. That container had held
packages of cocaine, not vaccine.

Tatum's account of his dealings with these individuals
are recounted at length in "The Tatum Chronicles", which is
Part II of Chip Tatum's autobiography "Life as Pegasus".
(Part I, "Nixon's Darkest Secret: Operation Red Rock" is
available in manuscript form for $32.95 from Nancy Tatum,
P.O. Box 895082, Leesburg, FL 34789).

But it was on March 24, 1985, flying under cover as a
MEDEVAC pilot that Tatum attended a meeting involving
General Noriega, President of Panama; Mike Harari, a former
Mossad agent who was Noriega's principal advisor; William
Barr, General Counsel for the CIA airline Southern Air
Transport, and later Attorney General of the U.S.; the
Honduran General Gustavo Alverez; two CIA agents (Felix
Rodriguez and Joe Fernandez); and--via satellite link--Oliver
North, Bill Clinton, and George Bush.

There was $100 million missing from North's
"Enterprise", and the purpose of the meeting was to find out
where it went. The meeting was held at a remote seaside
retreat at El Ocotal, Costa Rica. In Tatum's words:

A communications center was set up
at the chopper utilizing a phone
provided by Mr. Fernandez.
Attending the meeting were the
following: General Noriega-
Panama; Felix Rodriquez-US; Joe
Fernandez-US; General Gustav
Alverez-Honduras; William Barr-
US. Via Sat/Com link: Oliver
North-US; William Clinton-
Governor of Arkansas; George
Bush-US Vice President.

General Noriega and Mr. Barr
greeted the aircraft when we arrived.
The passengers adjourned to their
meeting while I secured the aircraft. .
. . I joined the meeting
approximately thirty minutes later.
When I arrived, the discussion was
concerning the loss of over $100
million. The "Enterprise" was being
drained. . . . It was obvious that the
purpose of the meeting was to
identify the source of the loss. The
money flow was traced from
Panama to several destinations in the
US. Their Ohio source was ruled
out early. Their Colorado source
was also ruled out. That left
Arkansas. It was discussed by the
members that either [Barry] Seal or
[Bill] Clinton were siphoning from
the "Enterprise". . . .

Fernandez and Tatum returned to the aircraft to use the
phone.

He [Fernandez] called Mr. North.
The discussion pin-pointed three
people. Fernandez told North that
the loss was definitely occurring on
the Arkansas drop. He said, "That
means either Seal, Clinton or
Noriega."

Tatum summoned Barr and Rodriquez to the aircraft.

About 15 minutes later the phone
activated and Barr answered. . . . "I
would propose that no one source
[among Clinton, Noreiga, and Seal]
would be bold enough to siphon out
that much money, but it is more
plausible that each are siphoning a
portion causing a drastic loss." . . .

At that point the phone was handed
to me. I answered, "Tatum". Vice
President Bush asked me to ensure
that General Noriega and Mr. Harari
boarded Seal's plane and departed
prior to my departure. He also
wanted the tail number of Seal's
plane. I was told to tell no one that
we spoke. He then instructed me to
pass the tail number to North via
land lines when I returned to base. .
. .

Mr. Barr then made another call.
He asked for Governor Clinton. He
must have had a direct number
because he didn't have to wait. . . .
He explained that a substantial
amount of "Enterprise" monies had
disappeared. He further explained
to Governor Clinton that it was
suspected to be in excess of $100
million dollars and that it was
definately disappearing along the
Panama to Arkansas connection.
He suggested that Governor Clinton
investigate on that end, and that he
and Mr. North would continue
investigating on the Panama side and
that it must be resolved or it could
lead to problems.

My sources say Chip Tatum's word is reliable,
moreso than Terry Reed's. So we have here the beginnings of
a nice bipartisan scandal. And we haven't even gotten to the
Mena information that Jim Guy Tucker coughed up as part of
his plea bargain.